William Cullen Bryant

"So live, that when thy summons comes to join
The innumerable caravan which moves
To that mysterious realm, where each shall take
His chamber in the silent halls of death,
Thou go not, like the quarry-slave at night,
Scourged to his dungeon, but, sustained and soothed
By an unfaltering trust, approach thy grave
Like one who wraps the drapery of his couch
About him, and lies down to pleasant dreams."

That's the last stanza of the poem Thanatopsis by William Cullen Bryant. (My daddy will quote it for you from memory thanks to one of his high school English teachers.)

I've mentioned before that I like good poetry. Bryant is one of those who wrote a few gems that have stuck around, but most people have never heard of him. I remember my daddy quoting the above portion once and just impressing the heck out of me.

Later I stumbled across his poem A Forest Hymn. With an opening line like "The groves were God's first temples" you know it's going to be good. But here is my favorite part:

"Lo! all grow old and die—but see again,
How on the faltering footsteps of decay
Youth presses,—ever-gay and beautiful youth
In all its beautiful forms. These lofty trees
Wave not less proudly that their ancestors
Moulder beneath them."

I liked it so much I quoted it in a short story that I wrote. (Which I'm now expanding into a novel, in case you cared.)

Anyway, go check out some of his poetry. Here's a link:

http://www.nagasaki-gaigo.ac.jp/ishikawa/amlit/b/bryant19ro.htm